Popular baby names in Rhode Island, 1939

The most popular baby names in Rhode Island in 1939 were Barbara for girls (225 babies) and Robert for boys (444). Barbara ranked #2 nationally for girls. Social Security records list 8,740 babies born in Rhode Island in 1939 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Rhode Island in 1939

Names given at least 15 times in Rhode Island that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Claire: 54 babies, 15.1× the national rate
Muriel: 24 babies, 10.7× the national rate
Jeanne: 47 babies, 7.9× the national rate
Maureen: 45 babies, 7.4× the national rate
Marguerite: 16 babies, 5.4× the national rate
Pauline: 48 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Lorraine: 48 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Sheila: 30 babies, 4× the national rate
Anne: 40 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Gertrude: 16 babies, 3.8× the national rate

Boys

Normand: 22 babies, 42.5× the national rate
Rene: 17 babies, 20.3× the national rate
Gerard: 19 babies, 8.9× the national rate
Roland: 42 babies, 7.7× the national rate
Maurice: 19 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Anthony: 80 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Vincent: 29 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Manuel: 18 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Peter: 67 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Raymond: 128 babies, 3.4× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Rhode Island, 1939

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1938	US rank
1	Barbara	225	–	2
2	Mary	179	–	1
3	Joan	161	↑2	11
4	Patricia	157	↓1	3
5	Carol	134	↓1	6
6	Judith	105	↑5	8
7	Nancy	95	↓1	7
8	Sandra	77	↑17	13
9	Ann	70	↓2	33
10	Elaine	68	–	45
11	Joyce	68	↑16	12
12	Beverly	67	↓4	25
13	Dorothy	66	↓4	9
14	Elizabeth	66	↑1	18
15	Carolyn	64	↑8	14
16	Shirley	61	↓4	5
17	Margaret	60	↓3	10
18	Jean	58	↓1	32
19	Claire	54	↓6	>100
20	Frances	54	↑8	26
21	Marie	54	↓5	37
22	Helen	51	↑2	16
23	Jane	48	↑13	46
24	Lorraine	48	↓3	95
25	Pauline	48	↓7	>100
26	Jeanne	47	↑15	>100
27	Maureen	45	↑4	>100
28	Virginia	44	↑10	21
29	Doris	41	↑16	29
30	Janice	41	–	24
31	Anne	40	↑8	85
32	Eleanor	39	↑5	63
33	Carole	38	↑7	47
34	Janet	38	–	17
35	Dolores	37	↓9	58
36	Marilyn	37	↓16	19
37	Theresa	35	new	94
38	Jacqueline	34	↑12	72
39	Lucille	33	new	>100
40	Anna	32	new	43
41	Gail	32	↓12	73
42	Phyllis	32	new	30
43	Roberta	31	new	71
44	Sheila	30	new	>100
45	Ruth	29	↓1	22
46	Catherine	27	new	49
47	Norma	27	↓4	38
48	Evelyn	26	↓1	40
49	Irene	26	↓30	74
50	Constance	25	↓15	>100

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1938	US rank
1	Robert	444	–	1
2	John	346	–	3
3	Richard	276	–	5
4	William	218	↑1	4
5	Joseph	205	↓1	12
6	James	193	–	2
7	Edward	138	↑5	15
8	Raymond	128	↓1	22
9	David	123	↑1	7
10	Donald	118	↓1	8
11	Ronald	117	↑4	10
12	George	115	↓4	11
13	Thomas	104	↓2	9
14	Charles	100	↓1	6
15	Paul	96	↑1	17
16	Anthony	80	↓2	48
17	Kenneth	67	–	13
18	Peter	67	↑3	46
19	Michael	65	↑7	18
20	Arthur	60	↓2	32
21	Frank	59	↓1	20
22	Albert	58	↑1	41
23	Henry	53	↑7	31
24	Roger	47	↓5	28
25	Francis	43	↓3	53
26	Roland	42	↑10	>100
27	Gerald	40	–	19
28	Walter	39	↓3	25
29	Daniel	36	↑12	38
30	Alfred	35	↓1	70
31	Ralph	35	↑2	35
32	Louis	33	↓8	49
33	Stephen	33	↑5	65
34	Bruce	30	new	64
35	Vincent	29	↑5	>100
36	Ernest	28	↓2	55
37	Eugene	27	↓5	37
38	Carl	26	new	30
39	Frederick	26	↓4	71
40	Norman	26	↓12	44
41	Leo	25	↓10	>100
42	Harold	23	↓5	23
43	Lawrence	23	↑7	36
44	Dennis	22	new	34
45	Normand	22	↓3	>100
46	Howard	20	new	47
47	Gerard	19	new	>100
48	Maurice	19	new	>100
49	Philip	19	–	66
50	Earl	18	new	50

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